Press freedom in the news 12/01/08

South Africa’s Mail & Guardian has more coverage of the Mikhail Beketov case today. Beketov, an editor of a Moscow-based newspaper, was brutally beaten and left for dead more than two weeks ago and remains in a coma. The Houston Chronicle also has a story on Beketov, as well as the dangers of reporting in Russia for all journalists.

Over the weekend two cases of kidnapped journalists, in Somalia and Afghanistan, received news coverage. The Associated Press reported on the capture and release three days later of two Afghan journalists who had been abducted by Taliban forces in Ghanzi province. Agence France-Presse had coverage of the journalists abducted in Somalia on Friday. CPJ released an alert expressing concern for the four journalists, who were kidnapped in Puntland.